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which we recently attended in Washington, D.C. with several other young farmers. Blowin’ in the wind: The true meaning of ‘ag unity’ by Debra Eschmeyer; 8 Mar 2010 Of the 50 or so food and farm conferences I've attended in the last several years, the Drake Forum for America's New Farmers: Policy Innovations & Opportunities […]

The latest project of Brooke Budner, our tireless artist and an accomplished young farmer. Brooke just wrote an article about the project for Civil Eats. Little City Gardens: Growing an Urban Micro-Farm March 2nd, 2010 By Brooke Budner A year ago, my business partner, Caitlyn Galloway, and I started Little City Gardens. We grow salad […]

this comes via Farm Aid. Hey Farm Aid, I read your column on concentration in agriculture last month, but I'm confused. You talk about monopolies and fewer consumer choices, but when I walk into a supermarket, I see a gazillion brands and products. I don't understand how concentration is actually hurting consumers. Any help clarifying […]

we wanted to share this nice little note from Shawn, a new young farmer out in in southern california. I have been waiting for the day that I could send you a link to my own farm's website. Well, the day is here, and perhaps you all would like to check it out. I just turned 26 […]

BY: Kim Severson - NY Times RABBITS are supposed to be easy to kill. The French dispatch them with a sharp knife to the throat. A farmer in upstate New York swears that a swift smack with the side of the hand works. Others prefer a quick twist of the neck. It didn’t seem so […]

We are watching. We are expecting.  We want to help you get it right. By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY WASHINGTON Department of Agriculture officials failed to act on reports of illegal and unsafe slaughterhouse practices, letting suspect operations continue despite public health risks, a USDA veterinarian alleges in testimony to be aired today at a […]

commentary? Off the Farm, Into the City By Judy Keen, USA TODAY ST. LOUIS — Andre Hall lives in the city and has never plowed a field or fed a hog, but he proudly wears the blue jacket long associated with the organization once called Future Farmers of America. Hall, 18, is among 30 high-school […]

Hello! Yesterday I took a walk through the Greenmarket picking up the last ingredients for this Saturday night's fundraising dinner for Growing Chefs in Brooklyn.  The lineup is wonderful--an evening of tasty treats and live music (a banjo jumped on board with the two fiddlers last week!)  The auction (starting at 9p) has grown to include […]

a great NY times piece about some spunky NC crop mobbers. By: Christine Muhlke “Who brought their own wheelbarrow?” Rob Jones asked the group of 20-somethings gathered on a muddy North Carolina farm on a chilly January Sunday. Hands shot up and wheelbarrows were pulled from pickups sporting Led Zeppelin and biodiesel bumper stickers, then […]

sophomoric, but still relevant. Open Letter to a Cloned Sheep, Pig, Broiler or Dairy Creature by Severine von Tscharner Fleming "Dear Dolly, It seems that the US Food and Drug Administration, in all its wisdom, has decided that US citizens will be safe eating cloned animal products. Yes, Dolly, that means ewe, your lambs and […]

the winners got a new pick-up.  Young Farmers and Ranchers Take Top Honors SEATTLE, January 12, 2010 – Winners of the Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award, Discussion Meet and Excellence in Agriculture competitions were announced yesterday at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 91st annual meeting. Young farmers from around the United States competed […]

this article just came out in The Atlantic. How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. It will leave an indelible […]

here's a note we received from some aspiring agrarians who are also making some pretty rad tshirts.  Dear Greenhorns Community- I recently wrote to Anne to say how much my husband Brent and I have enjoyed the Greenhorns blog. It's great to know that there are so many young and aspiring farmers out there. We […]

so says The Star, a newspaper out of Toronto, in this article. By Jennifer Bain Food Editor The wooden butcher block of food that Mark Trealout and Laura Boyd put out for our visit to their Kawartha Lakes farmhouse is a thing of beauty. Finger-sized slices of ham and free-form sausages, both made from their […]

we received this nice email last week... Dear fellow food grower, I am a young farmer in Upstate NY. You gave me your card at a food conference last summer. I live on 110 acres just south of Albany with 2 of my friends and we run a small CSA in our area. Last year, […]

famous for Soil Buildling, and  for Apple Butter. get a load of this! Rodale Institute Newsletter Update – Jan. 21, 2010 Three weeks into 2010, writers at the Rodale Institute are celebrating Pennsylvania’s break-through Path of Organic program and rounding up the ways that organic farming can achieve even higher levels of carbon sequestration in […]

our friend jacob and courtney, greenhorns out at Prairie Heritage Farm, just wrote about this little happening.  A very sweet story.

many thanks to Kimberly Hart for this piece. take action, greenhorns! Grassroots push for Student Loan forgiveness could remove barrier to new entry farmers I recently contacted my U.S. elected officials to propose that farming become one of the areas of employment eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. I’m hoping that many young, beginning and […]

by Ian Wylie The Guardian, Saturday 9 January 2010 It's January 2020. You've commuted to the office in your titanium flying car, to be greeted by a robotic receptionist. You travelate to your 3D, virtual, interactive desk which pours you a tall decaf and scans the morning's to-do list on to your retina …

we just heard from a new friend, Evangeline, who has a great blog called FarmApartment.  She wrote a post about Hungry Filmmakers +  the greenhorns. I write a blog called FarmApartment : How To Live Off The Land Without Actually Having Land. I live in Los Angeles, but am here for the holidays. I got […]

Stratford couple voted Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2009 By DAVE STEWART The Guardian Canada’s top farmer prefers to think of himself as a technologist, an entrepreneur. “The term farmer is getting to be an outdated term,’’ Greg MacKenzie of Stratford said in an interview Monday, a day after he and his wife, Tania were […]

so says the Wall Street Journal: Green Acres Is the Place to Be The Recession Is Inspiring More Young Families and Singles to Head Back to the Country In June, 40-year-old Shane Dawley and his 36-year-old wife, Rhonda, uprooted themselves and their four boys from their suburban Atlanta rental home and bought an old five-acre […]

former greenhorns intern and much beloved friend Anya Kamenskaya wrote this nice piece about her current work out in California. The Gill Tract – Urban farm sanctuary, or just another lot slated for development? October 27, 2009 by Anya Kamenskaya It is undeniable that in the last year or so, the media’s discourse surrounding Food has […]

Limited Growth Opportunities in Farming By Sarah Shemkus November 29, 2009 BREWSTER — In April, Eldredge Farm consisted of two greenhouses, a dozen chickens and one very ambitious plan. "I have to screen out the loam, prepare the beds, install the posts and chicken wire, and install the irrigation," farmer Jeff Eldredge said at the […]

Here are some thoughts from our new friend Nathan Ballantine, aka "Man in Overalls".  He's a budding greenhorn, himself.  with a terrific blog. Back in July while visiting my good friend Jane Shuput, I attended the Greenhorns benefit at the Farmacy in Brooklyn.  She spoke highly of the film in progress and the folks behind […]

this is a beautiful piece, in both words and images. And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman    

Here is our friend + fellow greenhorn Oliver's account of the Futurist Banquet held at the MOMA in San Francisco a few weeks ago... it seems epic butchery events are the latest thing. So much meat, steer, beast. I'm still reeling from the experience, still reminded by the smoke on my flannel, singed armhairs and […]

an essay by wendell berry.  Read it, along with Louis Bromfield's Malabar Farm. THE NECESSITY OF AGRICULTURE By Wendell Berry, from a May 16 speech given in acceptance of the annual Louis Bromfield Society Award. Novelist and conservationist Louis Bromfield (1896–1956) was the author of over thirty works of fiction and non-fiction, including the Pulitzer […]

Our illustrator and friend Brooke Budner has a question for the crowd: "I'm looking, looking for grants to fund our little city gardens work. We frame it as a social experiment in the economic viability of small scale urban farming/market-gardening. we want to be able to do it full time, keep records, data, charts pictures, […]

Hi there beginning farmer thinkers. here's an opportunity to share your perspectives on this emergent movement, and get academic credit for it! The Journal of Agriculture and Food Systems Development INAUGURAL Call for Papers The Journal of Agriculture and Food Systems Development is a NEW online, international, peer-reviewed journal focused on applied research and best […]

If you're a faithful blog reader, you may remember Ibti, the plucky young woman who'd decided to bike across the country visiting local, sustainable farms.  Having heard she'd made it as far as Niman Ranche, we thought we'd check in with her to see how it's all going.  Here's a note from the biking champion, […]

from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Young farmer expanding her business and growing interest October 8, 2009; Troy L. Smith Growing up, Erin Bullock couldn't even tell you what farming was. "It wasn't even on my radar," says the 29-year-old Rochester resident. "I didn't even know what a farmer did. It was like, 'What does […]

Dear Greenhorns, Sarajane here, writing from Keith's Farm in Port Jervis NY. There is much to say and do, tell and ask. For now, though I want to let you know about some NPR news I heard recently. (Strangely, working on this garlic farm has allowed me to clock WAY more NPR time than I […]

with fruit leather machetes quivers of jam rubbers and a strong set of canning tongs. the fruit is going to waste that is needed by a large + growing population of city people. City people need fruit! Can uncle sam not make a truck hotline linking those populations-- the growers and the eaters ? What […]

thanks to our friend Dorian for this piece. Sustainable Fertilizer: Urine And Wood Ash Produce Large Harvest Human urine and wood ash appear to make a potent, inexpensive fertilizer combination for boosting the productivity of food crops, scientists say. ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2009) — Results of the first study evaluating the use of human urine […]

lots of greenhorns we know work with draft horses, and our friends at Sterling College are busy teaching the next generation.  Yes! Magazine takes note: Sterling’s Draft Horse Program Receives Accolades from Yes! Magazine Craftsbury Common, VT—Having a 2000-pound draft horse as a teacher is something a Sterling College student takes for granted. So it […]

This should provide one: GM crops: Battlefield (Download a PDF of this story - not free) from Nature Publishing Group Papers suggesting that biotech crops might harm the environment attract a hail of abuse from other scientists. Emily Waltz asks if the critics fight fair.

An old article, but solid.  Read a more recent article on Travis & Amy Forgues here The New American Farmer By Noel C. Paul ALBURG SPRINGS, VT. - If the average farmer is American Gothic, Travis Forgues is decidedly postmodern: He wears denim shirts and stone-washed bluejeans. His hair hangs down to his shoulders. He […]

greenhorns ally Mark Andrew Gravel of Agrarian Art Lab is behind this new mag. Not Your Average Food Porn: Food + Sex Previews Nationwide New collage art food magazine Food + Sex = Us (Food + Sex) previews nationwide late this summer with bicoastal dates scheduled for the Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square […]

a re-post from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Avant-Garde Agriculture, Architecture Meet in B’klyn Futurists’ Workshop Attracts Students From All Over World By Stephen Rex Brown BROOKLYN — When Dr. Mitchell Joachim appeared on the Colbert Report he was only a short subway ride from his laboratory, where he and a group of fellow futurists envision […]